Middle of the week

 

We still have lots of these visitors. This morning we had them in the upper yard in daylight! I was talking to my across the road neighbour this morning. He was telling me that he saw a hunter coming out while walking his dogs this morning. The guy had three deer in his truck, the total for the members of his camp. He was taking them to the butcher. I sure hope they are done hunting here now.

 

We sure had an interesting night watching the news! 

This afternoon we went to visit our dear friend and neighbour P. It makes me so sad to see yet another person we care deeply about fading away fast. P has endured multiple boughts of cancer and chemo that has just destroyed P;s body.

It is unseasonably warm today. I should be out doing some yard work BUT we had heavy rain yesterday that makes it almost impossible.  Even if I managed to rake up the sticks and rubble, it is so wet, I'd have the devils own time trying to move it.

I think I'll just drink tea and knit instead.

Quiet days ahead

 

We went to points south to visit with M mother and stepfather and the brothers and grandkids.

I was billeted with his Aunt C. She and I spent a quiet evening doing needlework while the rest of the family went off to Upper Canada Village for The Great Pumpkin Inferno event. C was crocheting poppies for this beautiful cascade at the Morrisburg Legion.

Crooked Slide Park

Full Moon Fall

Our frequent visitor

Election Day

 If you live in Ontario, I hope you were able and willing to get out and vote yesterday. I'm sad that the turnout was so poor, but none the less, the people have spoken. 

We voted by internet last week. It was no fuss and easy peasy.

The results are now in and the records are showing the wishes of the people. ALMOST overwhelmingly we voted for change. A lot of the old guard are gone. 

The small city near me elected to put a female mayor at the head of the table. 

My own township had a 50% shakeup. It's a younger council than we've probably ever had. I'm happy with the results. There were some on the previous council that needed to be retired well before this election.

Now lets put them to work!

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We were away on the weekend. M's mother is in rapidly declining health so we wanted to get together with all of her children while she was still up to it. I ended up being billeted out with M. aunt for the night. I've met her numerous times, but didn't really know her. I'm glad we had the opportunity to spend some time getting to know each other better. I can see us being friends going forward.

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The first big bag of bird seed was purchased today. I brought the bird feeders out of the shed a few days ago. The blue jays have been coming by to check them out. haha

This morning the Princess Pup and I went up the bush trail to swap out the trail camera chip. She flushed a big brown owl that flew along side me for a bit that up into a tall pine tree!

Last night we had a gang of young coyotes in the back yard singing their song. Unfortunately they managed to avoid all three cameras.

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The internet company sent another contractor by today to lay the fiber optic cables into the ground across our yard. Now we have to wait for another contractor to hook it all up out at the road, and then ANOTHER contractor to come set it up in the house. We were happy to get the cable into the yard because the last guy who came here said he didn't think it would happen for a couple of months OR until spring.

Warmth

 Our autumn has been pretty moderate, temperature wise. Our firewood is stacked in the wood room and two sheds. The chimney was cleaned last week, but we haven't lit a fire yet. M still has to put a vent in the ceramic floor for the heat to rise. He was waiting for a special saw to cut that. He has that now, so hopefully he will get that done this week. We have the gas furnace running at night when the temperature gets down to freezing zone!

I'm not sure how el Nino is going to affect us as we roll into winter, though I don't expect any measurable snow until the new year turns. It could get dicey then.from what I'm reading.

Another one

 Yes, another glorious autumn day. It's indeed quite nippy in the mornings, but it soon warms up.

This morning I discovered my adjustable side mirrors in Ruby have heaters! When I blow heat within the car, little vents in the mirrors clear them!

I hadn't seen my Pal in over a month, so we made plans to meet up today. She was feeling a bit sad and teary because her former residence out here was officially someone elses today. She and her late husband built that house as newlyweds many moons ago.

When I collected her, she was having a great laugh at some of the Halloween displays at the other end of her street. I suggested we grab Tim Horton beverages then take a wee drive before doing some shopping. She said she would LOVE that! Her family take care of her needs, but I don't think they have much time for fun stuff. Her d.i.l. is a politician and her son is a building contractor. The grandkids are all in the process of getting out in the world.

But I digress....

I knew of a subdivision where folks get right into the spirit of all the holidays. Two homesteads have over the top with displays that they charge admission for. They donate the funds. My Pal was shrieking with joy when we took in the sights! I suggested we come back next month when they switch over to Christmas.

We meandered back into town and did our grocery shop. I got our goods and Pal tucked into the car and was about to return the cart, when I noticed a very elderly woman in obvious distress. The poor dear was in a state. She couldn't get parked close to the store, where all the handicap spots were taken. The vehicle just beside me just pulled out. I said "Look, lets park this cart in.the middle of this spot, you hang out with my Pal, and I'll go bring your car up?" She trusted me with her keys and I got her vehicle up beside me. She seemed quite a bit recovered by then. Of course we had to hear her life story. She is 9 0+ years old. She is going into a nursing home at the end of the month. This was her last shopping trip and she was "damn well going to enjoy it!" She hobbled off with my abandoned cart. I would loved to have known her for awhile.

Sunshine and a day for outdoor chores

 We are having quite a beautiful autumn. Sure, we get some rainy days and the nights are frosty. It still seems pretty mild and sunny from my perspective.

We had a great long chat with my dear brother last night. He is coming to terms with the tragic death of his eldest son on Thanksgiving. He is hoping to go to Port Colborne very soon to spend some quality time with his other two boys, reminiscing and looking at photos. Their own private celebration of life.

I try to spend time outdoors puttering around. There isn't much more I can do for the gardens. The garlic is mulched with a thick layer of leaves. There are still a few carrots and turnips in the west side garden box. This brings to mind a chat I had in the little grocery store the other day. I had bought a larger turnip to add to our stash. The woman behind me in line asked me if I called them turnip or rutabaga. (I call them turnip). We agreed that the small white ones are not very nice. The clerk proceeded to tell us how her mother cooked them and how much she hated them. My dear old dad liked them that way, calling them Tatties and Neeps. Only in a small town small grocery store would you get that interaction. 

Yesterday I pulled all the vines and trellis off the back porch. I stashed the trellis under the porch, but they probably won't be used next year. We are going to tear off the big porch and rebuild. The new stairs will be located where we had the trellis for hops. The back porch is 25 or so years old. It is huge, about 15 by 15 feet. We don't use it because it gets too hot once the weather warms up. Many of the boards are showing serious rot. We will tear it off and salvage what is still "good". The new porch will be about four by 15 feet with the clothesline at one end and the stairs at the other.  I will have to think about relocating some precious plants in the spring.

I've painted the fresh wood around the new patio door. Terrible paint! It's like milk, impossible to NOT have splatters. After that nonsense I had to wash the glass.  I just wanted to get the wood sealed. I think the back of the house is going to need a total coat of paint next spring.

I watched an aspen shedding it's leaves in a sunbeam just now. It looked like gold dust falling.

A sad day for our country

 I have written at length in the past about our family's military history going back generations. My eldest grandson is our present serving member, in an eastern Canada unit.

Early this morning we saw the news about a catastrophic explosion at the training center in Wainwright Alberta. At this moment the death toll sits at FOUR with dozens of catastrophic injuries.

Public information has not been released about the cause of the situation.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured and bereaved. If your family is affected by this horrible situation, we are thinking of you.

It had to happen sooner or later

 Every surface was white when I woke up this morning! And it wasn't feathers or frost! I'm really surprised that the back porch never melted away, because the sun did hit it for several hours. We are heading for a relatively warm, sunny, few days so it won't linger to long.

M puttered around outdoors putting some things to bed and torching the pile of brush above the garden. Pup and I wandered up hill to swap out the sd cards in the cameras. We still aren't seeing any wildlife.

We started getting organized to make a lot of cabbage rolls. I thought we were going to do it all today, but no, there is just to much preparing before we get rolling.

Daughter T and I are off to visit a craft thing tomorrow, and maybe a spot of lunch. Daughter C and her partner P were intending to come visit today until their cat got sick. Hopefully we will get another nice weekend before winter lands for the duration.

The military establishment near us is doing some training with helicopters. We had a huge, low flying Chinook and a small Huey buss our little valley.  Those big guys are LOUD!

Thanksgiving Weekend will never be the same

 

This sweet fellow was my brothers eldest son Ben. He has tragically died as a result of a car crash last night, Thanksgiving Monday.

I can't imagine losing a child, or so tragically.

As a little lad he was obsessed with fire trucks and fire fighters. My brother has the sweetest photo of Benny, age about five, at the firehall. One of the staff put one of their big old jackets and a helmet on him. Benny has his head thrown back, eyes closed, laughing his head off.  He was in love with that until he got old enough to discover cars!

My nephew was a speed demon who was involved with the racing community in central Ontario. Was he speeding? He wrapped the car around a power pole on a long straight stretch. The weather was HORRIBLE.  Unless there were witnesses, we will never know. We just have to try to believe he was doing what he loved to do at the time of the crash.

I hope his beloved Grandpa Jack was there to greet him on the other side. 

Family Time

 We had a lovely dinner with family and friends yesterday. The weather was great too. Sadly, mr. M mother and step father were not able to join us. His dear mother is in rapidly declining health. M and his brother D are going to spend next weekend with them. My daughter and her partner are coming up to visit from the GTA so I will be hanging back home. 

We had the technician from our new service provider at the door very early this morning. The phone call last evening said they would be here at 8AM so my dear daughter got up early while M and I snoozed on. He arrived at 9:30. We were very disappointed to learn that we wouldn't be changing internet providers until the spring. Our cables haven't been laid in, and the contractor doing that part of the work isn't scheduled to be down here for two months. If we are frozen up or have snow, that can't lay lines until spring. so we continue at the mercy of that ding dong bell company.

We are having a lazy day. I delivered my daughter home around noon, then scuppered on home to sit quietly and knit. My great grandson B.L. has outgrown the beautiful sweater I knit him last winter. He wanted to wear it but it's much to short. Using a pattern called "FLAX", I can knit one up pretty quickly for him. I'm going to make it on the bigger size. I felt sad for the little lad when I dropped his Oma home. He was all alone riding his bike up and down the lane. There are no other children close by for him to play with, and his sister was with her mother.  He's only eight years old. He came running up to me for a big hug and said "I hope you have a good afternoon Granny". I love these two little ones. 

Shots from a lovely day

 

Long Shadows, river levels dropped in anticipation of spring floods, red leaves and lazy walks up my quiet country road

Preparations

 Today was just a gorgeous day. It was warm and sunny. The pup and I walked up our back trail to the woods. The maple leaves carpeting the trail smell lovely. This evening there are THUNDERSTORMS blowing around S.Ontario, though they are missing us. 

We are approaching Thanksgiving Weekend. We are hosting dinner on Sunday. I will.collect my dear daughter. Several members of M family will be with us. His dear mother is in failing health so they have had to bow out.

The pies are baked and in the freezer. We will shift the bird from the freezer to the refrigerator on Friday.

I'm plugging away at cleaning house. My stamina still isn't back to normal. I was supposed to be.in an aqua fit class two weeks ago but that isn't happening! Maybe next week?

One solid sick week

 Yeppers, the sickest I've been in YEARS!

M seems to be resisting it to some degree. He bombarded it with some of his alternative medicines. He's braver than I about that stuff.

I'm getting a wee bit better every day. This afternoon I had a burst of energy and toddled outside to do some yard work. I managed to trim everything along the west side of the back porch. The rubble got loaded into the wheel barrow then trundled to the woods for dumping. I believe in returning organic stuff to the earth. After that I washed up and hit the bed for half an hour!

After a rest, I made a cup of tea and knit for a bit. Then I got back upstairs to swap out my summer duvet for the winter one. Changing those covers is as physically demanding as that yard work. I had to lay down again! Hahaha

 It got quite breezy this afternoon. The beautiful maple trees really started shedding. I can see the forest floor at the back of the house now. This evening the pup and I walked up the forest trail behind the house. I needed to put one of the trail cameras further into the bush now that hunting season is upon us. We have had interlopers with guns trespass in bygone years. When the girl and I were out front removing some trellis for storage, a deer was snorting and huffing in the woods. We don't see them but they let us know they see us. They seem to be hanging out in the woods behind our shed. I heard them there a couple of weeks ago too.

So that's the kind of day it's been. I hope we can go for a drive tomorrow.

The flu house

I had strange things happening to my body over night that kind of made me think this flu is finally letting go. I'd say I'm 25% better.

We needed some things from the store. Taking precautions, I ran through quickly, getting back into the car $130 poorer. We put away the food and faced the music. I'm whooped! 

M has it now. Lots of napping going on. Tylenol and antihistamines are our friends again.

Wednesday September 30

 Tomorrow is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation & Orange Shirt Day in Canada

It is the day we remember and honor our First Nations people and the struggles they have had at the hand of the people who came here back in the day.

Orange Shirt Day is in remembrance of the children who were lost or suffered in residential schools.

My family are settlers who have history with the First Nations people. There is a Canadian author named Catherine Parr Trail. My grandmothers maternal grandparents were part of the colony that is the subject of her book. If it wasn't for the First Nations women teaching my ancestor how to live in this harsh land, I doubt they would have survived.  My grandmother shared lessons with us that she was taught by her grandmother and mother. Most of my cousins have forgotten, but I try to carry them on. 

When I was 15, I befriended a young mother in our neighbourhood. She was a First Nations woman from Manitoba. At only 25, she had five children. The troubled past wasn't really on our radar back at that time, but she told me her stories of growing up on a depressed reservation and being forced to Residential School.  The children were stripped of their culture and treated very badly. Unfortunately quite a few didn't make it out alive. I think of her often and wonder how she and her children carried on. Her stories have never left me. 

On the road again

 This afternoon we hopped in Ruby and headed out to an area south east of us, called the Lanark Highlands. This region produces the greatest percentage of Ontario maple syrup. There is a lot of maple there. 

The colors were just spectacular! As it was very overcast and a bit hazy,  I had no luck taking any photographs.

We were off to meet a gentleman selling the tires off his Toyota. The price was certainly right but, man, did we have an interesting time finding his place.

On our way we planned to stop at an orchard at Burnstown to buy apples and cider. We were so disappointed the place is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

On the return trip we stopped at a little hut at the top of a farm lane. They were offering pumpkins and a small bag of apples. They are kind of odd looking, probably cross bred to spy apples. Those were my grandmothers favorite baking apples.

M stopped into Valley Heritage Radio station to buy some CDs. They sell an eclectic mix of local artists. He's been going on about this song about  blue frogs of Ashdad as long as I've known him, and sure enough, they had that CD. I popped into the vet clinic and picked up another bottle of my dogs arthritis medication. It was kind of an expensive day!

EDIT: I had to correct a lot of odd spelling mistakes in this post. Sometimes these programs we post to pop letters in where they don't belong....or is it just me???

A beauty of a day

 I took some Tylenol Cold and Sinus this morning, which greatly alleviated my symptoms. There is work to be done!!

First on the agenda was peeling and slicing the last of the apples. M then made a coarse sort of apple sauce. I had some frozen puff pastry sheets in the freezer, so we are going to make two strudels.  We were talking about how flavorful the wild apples are. The store apples have been so cross bred that they have lost a lot of their unique flavors.

There is some serious yard work to get done up. M. hauled the patio table down off the porch. I brought all of the garlic and onions out of the dark garage and got them all cleaned up and into baskets. Now the table can go under the porch for the winter. I took all of the stalks and broke them up and stuffed them into the old washer tubs my neighbour brought over. I topped that with a thick layer of grass clippings and then a good thick layer of hummusy soil.  They will be ready for planting in the spring.

After that my get up and go left the building so I came in for a cup of tea.  I feel better getting a couple of chores off my list.

My trip to S.Ontario

 So, last Monday I drove down to Peterborough to see my siblings and my fathers cousin.

My fathers family is very fractured. When he was 6 or 7, his mother ditched him and his sister with her parents and scuppered off to the U.S. with their newborn baby sister in her arms. His father was not part of the household as he was living elsewhere with his WIFE. I was 6 when my grandfather died, but I have no memory of meeting him.

When my grandmother went to the US, she had my infant aunt adopted into another family. She married the guy she ran off with, then had at least five more children with him. There are possibly others. Some were in foster care, some were under supervision of older siblings. It was complicated. One died in unsupervised care.

My father passed away in 2013, well into his 90th decade. I kept hoping he would talk about his family, but it didn't happen. I only discovered the identity of his father a week or so before he passed. One of my American cousins found a photo of him and sent it to me, thinking it was my father! When the backing was steamed off we discovered my grandfathers name written on the back. 

My brother and I then DNA tested with two companies for proof. A whole lot of information came to light from some of our closest matches. We learned that we had relatives in the neighbourhood. 

Last year I met two daughters of my fathers first cousin Gordon. We had a wonderful visit. They were absolutely aghast with the story. One of the ladies gave me contact information for my fathers last living first cousin. She is living very close to my siblings! We have written a few letters and spoken on the phone but didn't actually meet until this week.

My first impression was how much she resembles my fathers full sister. She was tickled to learn she actually looks like somebody. As an only child, her life was different too. She told me wonderful stories about my grandfather and his wife, who she was very close to. The whole family lived on the same block. My father and his sister lived at the corner, about four streets down. If they ever knew their aunts and uncles lived within walking distance, they never told us. My cousin R had no knowledge of Dad and B, or baby P.

Cousin R, too, was aghast at the story of her older cousins miserable childhood. It was so completely opposite to hers, just up the street.

We will be visiting again when I manage to get enough nerve to go to the city again.

Things on the road

 I returned home today from S.Ontario trip.

I learned that my vehicle Ruby has marvelously effective brakes.

When you slam them doing 80 km. and come to.a dead stop within seconds, loose things become PROJECTILES!

An absolute idiot came roaring up behind me while I was doing highway speed. The person then passed me, cut in front and slammed on their brakes! As a woman driving alone I was not about to stick around to confront the person.

Now for the interesting part. I had stopped a ways back and bought a 4 litre bag of famous Kawartha Dairy chocolate milk and put it on the middle of the back seat, the one litre of coffee cream beside it, behind the drivers seat. When I hit the brakes, the chocolate milk flew forward, striking the control console, then bounced on to the front passenger seat. One of the bags ruptured, soaking the seat and my right pants leg. The coffee cream hit the back of my seat and then the floor, also sustaining a leak. Thankfully that leak stayed in the Weathertek floor mat. I had a big mess to deal with when I got home. Unfortunately when milk gets into a car seat it can get rather obnoxious. I did have some of the enzyme cleaner spray which I hope will neutralize that. The dog dish we keep in the car for the girlie also flew forward, but it hit the back of the seat. That might have been a real bell ringer!

The vehicle that cut me off was one of those minis. I'm driving a full size suv now, so the crash would have been pretty catastrophic. I've got to say, I'm pretty rattled about driving down south again.

I'll chat about the nice part of my trip after I recover.

Chilly mornings

 We need sweaters in the mornings now. Tomorrow will probably be 0C!

This morning I scooped up D.D and we headed to a fiber event. My favorite part was the lovely tame sheep. I was a good girl and didn't spend any money! We chatted with some familiar faces.

We left the fair grounds and I took my DD for a drive along some familiar roads. She really enjoyed the Beachburg lookout and wants to go back in a couple of weeks when.we do our fall colors tour.

I'm heading to S.Ontario tomorrow. I'm looking forward to spending time with my siblings and connecting with a long lost cousin. We write and chat on.the phone but we've never met face to face. She is my brothers NEIGHBOUR!

Saturday has come

 We had a hard frost last night. My flower plants are looking pretty dead. I cut all of the blossoms and brought them in yesterday. There were patches of white all over the yard when I let the dog out.

A big bull moose walked by my trail camera on the road Thursday night! Unfortunately the resolution is to poor to share.

Daughter and I were supposed to go to Taste of The Valley today but I'm not feeling very well. There is another event tomorrow we're hoping to make.

Hump Day

 Time just seems to be rushing by!

We have so much to do before the weather really flips. Thankfully this September has been really warm. I can't remember a year when we didn't have a touch of frost before the middle of the month. It was quite warm last night, and foggy as all get out by dawn!

Both M and I were not in fighting form today. He is still nursing a very sore, swollen knee and I've been fighting with a migraine. By late afternoon we were both a bit improved, so we had a bit of a job needing to be done asap. Awhile back we bought some BIG slabs of beef. We processed several of them at the time and put the others in the big freezer. We were out of ground beef, so I thawed one of the slabs and we got to work. We cut a bit for a beef stew, and another good chunk to roast. The remainder got ground. We love our big commercial Kitchen Aid machine. We bought attachments for it on sale at a kitchen gadgets store going out of business!

After dinner the pup and I went around swapping sd cards in the trail cameras. Only a little brown bunny has been interested in the pile of apple peels and cores up in the woods. The camera out on the road shows a coyote walking up to my neighbours lane every night! I phoned to warn him to keep his two little dogs in. Little Lucy doesn't like going outdoors at the best of times, but Brody wants to be out guarding! Brody is no more than fifteen pounds so he wouldn't stand a snowballs chance with the coyote!

Tomorrow we are hoping to get out on service calls. I'm going along to be the goffer. M has multiple golf carts to service at this facility so I don't want him jumping up and down until we're sure his knee is over this hiccup. The business is still going strong with the good weather so they need them fixed Now. This time last year they just tucked them into the barn until the snow left in the spring.

Brr

 Our night temperatures have sure taken a nose dive! We haven't had a frost bite yet. The duvets are on the beds. We are NOT putting heat on yet.

We are still processing apples. There is one cloth shopping bag yet to go. There are baskets and bowls of vegetables cluttering up every flat surface in the kitchen.

My sweetie has done something to his knee causing him pretty extreme pain. His service calls have been stalled. If he feels any better and the weather is favorable, I'll go help out on one of the campground jobs. He can sit still and I'll be the goffer.

I'm trying to get ahead on my Christmas knitting projects. I'm just about finished a pair of boot socks. I found a pattern for some nice fingerless gloves to start next.

Harvest time

 My garden has been pretty well finished, and the grass cut. The turnip and carrots can still until hard freeze. We will pull them as we need them until then.

My friendly neighbour, the appliance repair man, is giving me some tubs from washing machines. I'm going to put them behind the shed and use them as big flower pots, though not flowers. The plan is to put one tomato plant in each. Yeah, I'm big on container gardening.

This weekend we have been busy processing apples. Two of M clients have gifted us a large quantity of beauties. Our dehydrator has been very busy! This afternoon we went and picked another bag! We made apple pies for the freezer. Tomorrow we will try to finish up this bag.

A deer was in the yard snorting at the Princess Pup when I took her out for her bedtime piddle. I've been dumping the apple peels for the critters to enjoy. 

Sad day

 Rest in Peace Kitty, you were such a sweet girl

She looks so robust and healthy in this photo. She quickly went downhill from advanced kidney disease triggered by diabetes.

After we calmed down a bit we went outside and smoothed the soil in the pet cemetery. Next time we go shopping we will hit the garden center and find some unique tulips for a marker. My old Emmy girl has lovely orange and black ones.

Next on the agenda was relocating an elderberry bush. It's not so much bush, more TREE. We moved it from the front garden to the back where it can spread and grow as tall as it likes.

Sunday afternoon

 Dear daughter and I went to the town for breakfast and a bit of a shop.

Her grandaughter has her 5th birthday next week so I need DD with me to make sure I got clothing that fit, haha. 

This afternoon I'm going to steam clean the rugs and upholstery in Ruby. While that dries in the bright sunshine I'm going to get the gloves on and finish cleaning up the garden. The tomatoes and squash are all done. We got a grand total of TWO cucumbers that weren't worth eating. Some potato peelings that got dumped in the old garlic bed grew to be huge. They flowered, now starting to wilt, so there might be a few spuds to pull.

The cat is still among the living.

Weeks End

 Here we are at the Labour Day weekend!

The kiddies returned to school already this week.

We went shopping in a tiny village about 40 km from here. I FINALLY managed to buy a pair of Birkenstock closed shoes! My feet are sore from wearing them today, but that will improve. I've been slopping around for months in terrible footwear. These new shoes will tell my bones and muscles to shape up. I suffer from.planter faciitis and excessive outer pronation. Both contribute to sore feet.

This evening we harnessed up the pup and went for a walk. We are trying to get into a routine.

The cat is still among the living, though barely. If she doesn't fade away on her own before, the vet is making a house call on Tuesday.

And so it goes

 Animal Hospital Veterinarian just called

All the test results are in and our poor girl is in end stage renal failure. There is no turning back.

I have to get up the nerve to call the local hospice vet to come visit. M just can't do it. She is his baby.

Trying times

 We're having a tough time getting through the days this week.

Our cat stopped eating and was getting very grumpy. She is diabetic so not eating is a big problem. I checked her blood sugar and it came up as severely hypo. She almost seemed comatose at one point! We made an appointment with our vet.

So, yesterday, Friday, we drove the 40 km. with her howling in the back seat. We were quite shocked that her blood sugar showed very high on the clinic glucose monitor.  A lot of labs were done. The vet told us to knock off the insulin as she might have reversed. Cats do that apparently. We were sent off with medication (they gave her some sort of injection there too) for her stomach and a very light purse.

Surprisingly, she ate a good meal when we landed home, but nothing since.

This morning we planned to hit garage sales as we're on the hunt for something. Just as we were ready to head out the door the animal hospital phoned with some scary news. Kitty has a serious kidney/bladder infection. We had to hop back in the car for another 40 km trip down the highway. She was given an injection of a long acting antibiotic that will last a couple of weeks. We bought special food for kidney disease and advised to buy some kitten food in an attempt to entice her to eat. When we arrived home she again ate a meal, then went to bed.

Late this afternoon she licked some butter off my finger so I went for the bowl and managed to get a teaspoon of food into her.

We can't go on like this. Hopefully she is going to improve the next few days. We love our pets but this health scare is really hard on us. 

On the positive side, the herbs I'd brought in are dry, rubbed and in their air tight containers. Next up are oregano a thyme, which grow  profusely around the yard. I don't know if I'll bother with the catnip. Kitty isn't interested in it.

This evening we ran another dozen bottles through the dishwasher. Tomorrow we are canning salsa! It's going to be a wet day, so good enough to get that done.

I've cut back on my internet time. I've cut all but a bit of local news right out. The stupidity of the outside world was doing my head in! I have preserves to make, knitting to do, books to read and trails to walk.

In the night

 It usually takes me some time to fall asleep.

I enjoy.having the windows wide open. The night breeze is lovely.

The night sounds are interesting. Depending on the time of year, there are lots of different bird sounds. The resident owls are my favorite. We usually have a whip poor will that flaps down the side lane and hollers it's head off. It has left for it's winter abode.

Tonight there are a lot of helicopters flying around. It's either military or search and rescue. Both services are frequent flyers in our air space.

As morning draws close I will hear traffic building on the highway, which is about three kilometers north of us.

We had loggers roaring up a week or so back, but it's pretty quiet this week.

Keeping busy

 I'm slowly cleaning up the garden. Today I pulled all of the herbs and set them up to dry.

The carrots and turnips in the back garden are all that remain. They can stay for weeks yet.

The garlic and onions are curing in a dark corner of the garage.

My friend around the corner gave me a grocery bag of wild plums. They were a devil to prepare because they are so tiny. I got two mason jars of "jam". M and I decided it is more suited to plum sauce for egg rolls than a spread for toast.

Early yesterday afternoon I drove the 20 km. to my Pal's new house to see how she was getting on. She was struggling to open a tub of yogurt and hadn't eaten in 20 hours! (She is diabetic!) I set her up with her yogurt and a coffee and made her a bowl of oatmeal. She had been waiting for her d.i.l. to come help. She was struggling to get her meds sorted. Her family make plans to support her then don't follow up. They live just up the street.

Tomorrow I'm off to "run around" with my daughter. I think some breakfast is part of the plan. She is enjoying being on holiday this week.

Update

 We had a lovely time with M family at the cottage on Round Lake. We were back to the farm stand too! M bought a bushel of cucumbers for a mere 10$. We have been really busy today "doing them up" as my Scottish grandmother would say.

M's mother took a bit of a turn and had to go back for medical attention. His brother and the children will close up the cottage.

My Pal is home from hospital and tucked into her new home. I think she was a bit perturbed that I hadn't been to visit her! I tried to explain that her family wouldn't give me an update. I didn't know if she was in ICU or in a coma even!! I asked if I could drop off her keys and parking pass tomorrow but she said she was busy. I'll try again for Sunday. I'm going to stand back for a bit. She will call me when she needs help.

Just some stuff

 The week started off with a bang.

I had to take my Pal for a dr appointment then we were grocery shopping. Before we even got into the exam room she was in crisis. Her dr called for an ambulance! She wasn't in imminent threat of dying so we had a wait. Clinic hours were over by an hour and a half but the dr stayed right with us until the paramedics finally arrived. They sent an suv! The dr and paramedic got her belted in, but I wasn't allowed to accompany her. I called her son, who told me he was already on his way to the hospital because his son had a motorcycle accident! The lad is okay but my Pal is tucked up being treated for who knows what now. Her daughter in law  told me to sit tight and she'd call me when my Pal is ready for visitors or whatever. 

Yesterday we went to the nearby lake where M's parents are at a cottage resort for a week. We had a lovely visit and went for a swim. His dear mother is in very poor health so every bit of time we have with her is a gift.

Tomorrow his entire family is getting together for a picnic. We have been busy slamming the pots of pans, haha. I made a potato salad enough for a crowd. M was busy making relish with all the over ripe cucumbers were were given. It sure is yummy! We will be taking a jar along with the brats we picked up to bbq.

On the wildlife front, the neighbours are reporting the bear is still hanging about. We haven't seen it yet. I'm surprised it hasn't come by to forage the compost pit! The little fox still shows up every evening. The owls chit chat to each other across the yard. Most evenings the coyotes get out on the road for choir practice. I'm sure some folks find the racket quite annoying but I love to hear them sing.

M got the last of the load of firewood into the shed today. I should have been helping, but just wasn't able. I get these annoying sinus headaches that keep me from bending over. (I've been waiting to see a specialist about it for months)

August weather is just about the best! Sultry days give way to cool nights that make sleeping a lot easier. We are rushing toward the end of the month when the weather could throw some surprises at us. September is going to be busy for us. Following the long weekend I'm going to my old home town to visit family and friends. The week after that my daughter and I are going to gather some friends to head off to a fiber event. That throws us into the middle of September! Gosh, time is flying when we have things to do and places to be. To bad winter didn't do the same.

Another rainy day

 Early this morning we stepped out to get started on this mess.

We need to get it into the shed before to much rain falls on it.

My youngest and her youngest are coming to town for a couple of days. They will come to us tomorrow and have dinner. DD is fond of M spaghetti so we needed to get a pot of sauce stewing. I had to run to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things for the meal.

On my way home I had to pick up more boxes for my Pal to pack her house. I was surprised to see the big moving trailer there and her house almost empty. She has lived there since building that home with her late husband in 1963. It's very hard for her to leave.

I saddens me to realize she is now palliative and is not going to be with us much longer. My daughter and I will be going to spend our coffee dates with her as long as we can.

The front garden is booming. I pick zucchini every day. There are some other unidentified squash in there and one watermelon. I'll soon be harvesting the herbs in the middle box. The far box had garlic and onions that have now been harvested. It's replanted with radish and lettuce. The box in the foreground is all flowers.

And then there is this.

I make use of containers! My neighbour is giving me four recycled dryer drums to plant in next season!

Sunday drives photo dump

 Last week and this

Thursday already

 

Gosh this week is flying by! Monday was a holiday of course, which threw us out of sync.

It was some sultry today. It felt like 35C though it was only 26 with a high humidex.  I finally put the AC on at dinner time. We just couldn't take the humidity. My poor old power bill has taken an awful hit with this constant AC running.

I popped up to have a visit with my pal early this afternoon. She has had a visit to the hospital with a variety of problems. She is hoping to get moved to her new place in the town no later than the end of the month, where she will get more support services for daily living. I took her a bouquet of flowers from my garden. 

Sunday drive on Monday

 We finally got rid of the rain clouds. It was shaping up to be a gorgeous day. We put the dog cover on Ruby's back seat, boosted up the dog and headed north east. We crossed two bridges and ended up in Quebec.

 Highway 148 is a lovely drive. We meandered off the beaten track into a wee village. I don't know the name unfortunately. On a cottage road we spyed an older lady sitting under a sunshade selling blueberries. Her "quart" certainly was bigger than the grocery store quart! They are so yummy!

We saw a doe and fawn attempting to cross the road in front of us! We waited for her, but she chased her youngster back the way they came.

On the highway very close to our turn, there is a hill with a bend right at the top. Imagine our surprise to see a flashing police cruiser on either side of the road! Oh boy, some truck driver missed the bend, crossed the southbound lane and ended down the steep embankment into the woods! It will take a bit of work to get that vehicle up and out, as well as closing the highway for however long it takes.

We had a nice bbq for dinner. I took the corncobs up the path for the raccoons. I swapped out the card in the trail camera. A young coyote came by for a visit!

Wet

 We sure haven't experienced any dry spells this summer.

I might have had to water the gardens three times this season.

This is one of six garden boxes. I've had to do some trimming since this photo.

This weekend has been a washout. We were supposed to have guests but that plan washed away.

Our neighbour across the road called over to report a bear! I put another trail camera up with hopes it will wander through here. The wild berries and chokecherries are so abundant this year! Ol bruin will be well fed in preparation for hibernation.

Door in old wood houses

 Door is in but awaits trimming. 

It was like a sauna outdoors all day, then the rain came. 

It roared and poured pretty much all afternoon so M quit for the day. He is not happy with the look of gaps in certain places, though the big patio door IS square and level. This old wood house has settled and twisted, hahaha. 

I had a laugh with my neighbour who had a nearly 150 year old log house. He told me a story about trying to install a door with his f.i.l. When Poppa and B were here yesterday she was telling me about their basement door starting to sag. They live in the original homestead dwelling in their hamlet. It's one of the oldest in our township.

Old wood houses throw up some frustrating challenges.

I'm not taking any photos until it is all trimmed out and the glass washed. It sure is a lot brighter in the kitchen, compared to the old clouded up French doors.

Messy messy messy

 We are having (exterior) French doors replaced today.

Why does a simple "pop the old one out and new one in", have to get so complicated?

Porch boards and floor boards are being torn up. yucky yucky.

And to further complicate things

I started vacuuming up dead bugs by the thousand, and sawdust, but forgot to put the replacement filter back in the vacuum, which is now probably buggered for good because it is barely sucking. (Yes, I did put the new filter in)

And it's going to get hotter than haddes this afternoon and this gigantic hole in the south facing wall is letting in the heat.

What a day....

My Old Ladies

 I've been thinking about the elder women in my life lately.

My mother was younger than I am now by several months, when she passed over. She developed a rare disease as a result of being a long term smoker. She worked until she was 73 though! (I left work at 46 due to my fibromyalgia). Despite my disability I've managed to stay quite active and relatively physically fit. This summer though, I'm finding my body trying to kick me down. ( Which might be why I'm thinking more about my elders?)

My good friend Pal was a real power house until she was about 85. She developed diabetes with all the complications that really knocked her for a loop. She was widowed with a small child shortly after I met her. She always worked without social supports, until she was pensionable age. Even then she still did baking for special clients. She really has been my role model, though I don't care for her old lady pincurls. Hahaha

So, old lady hair styles! How they have evolved. My grandmother and her pals all had that pin curl thing going on. My grandmother went to the salon every Saturday morning for a shampoo and set. She touched the stragglers up with her own clamps, pins and nets at home. I was always fascinated with those odd things as a youngster. That drawer in her bathroom was dusted with scented powder. I love the smell that arose when I dug out those funny clips. Once a month my grandmother had a blue rinse put in her hair. Ladies of my generation are more variable with their color choices. Pink and mauve are popular. My eldest daughter frequently goes for green or a brilliant saffire blue.

My maternal grandmother was a prominent role model in my life. My mother was a surprise "change of life" baby, so my grandmother was pretty old when I was born. My mother married in her 30s after my father returned from the war. So, my grandmother was really elderly forever. Still, she had lots of time for us and taught us great life skills. My grandparents were master gardeners. Grandmother had an amazing knowledge of natural herbs and remedies that she learned from her mother, who in turn learned from the First Nation Matriarch's. 

As the much younger baby of the family, my own mother had no interest in any of these skills, so it all came from Grandma. Mum graduated high school just as the second war started and went to the big city to work in a munitions plant. I had visions of her all dolled up like Rosie the Riviter, but she was an office worker. She stayed at work after the war, after my Da convinced her to marry him, and after she had me. She was a modern woman!

Now I'm an old woman, sitting here ruminating over the changes in each generation.

 I still can't get over that blue hair business though.

Another week in the books

 I can't believe it is Friday already. Where did the days go?

Wednesday I took a run to the town with my dear daughter T and my Pal. We did a little shopping, grabbed an iceCap from Tim Hortons and beat it home. 

Today we bundled the pooch into the car and went to the lake for the afternoon. It was a nice day for a swim. I bought some adult floaties that sure helped my confidence in the open water. We thought about going out fishing with brother in law but it was a little too windy for me, so we ditched that plan.  I get sea sick VERY easily. They are getting ready to host the pilgrims on the way to the shrine at Cornac, so they are busy getting set up anyway.

Tomorrow we are heading to Deep River to see some sights.

Busy Weekend Quiet Day

 Saturday was cloudy, but the smoke seemed to have cleared. About noon, I left M doing some prep work for the event he was hosting,  and headed to the small city to attend the Multicultural Festival. I didn't get to far when I noticed the extremely ominous looking sky across the Quebec side of the river, and a bit of thunder rumbling. It seemed like a good time to get back to Ruby and head out. As I reached for the door big fat rain plops started hitting me. Before I got anywhere there was such a deluge I could NOT SEE!

I had to pick up a couple of things for M. at the grocery store. I got soaking wet, even with the rain poncho! It was just blowing and raining like crazy.

I came home and gave M. a hand chopping and dicing and moving things to freezers and all that. 

Sunday dawned bright and clear. 

M. was hosting a Chinese buffet for Poppa''s 83 birthday. There was a lot of cooking going on in this house. It was a really great meal and everyone enjoyed it with great gusto. Ten bodies were filled to bursting, haha.

M. especially is just whooped after being on his feet for two days cooking up a storm. We are on 'vacation" this week so we're going to enjoy some down time.  We have at least one out of town day trip planned. On Wednesday I'm having a girls day with my daughter T and my Pal.

There is a bit of rain in the forecast so we will probably have to figure out how to work around that. I think the one day trip can probably be okay because it is mostly just a drive by.  I hope we can work a lunch stop in there.

We had the Fifa soccer final on in the background all afternoon. That was one nail biter of a game! We were happy to see Spain win. Some of the spectacle was questionable according to our audience, but the game was fantastic!

Living in the woods

 Or why I live, where I live

My home is approximately half way between the small city and "the Lake".

There is a tiny village just up the way. It has a church and a cluster of homes, a coffee roaster and not much else. There is no store or post office or coffee shop. Just a kilometer up the highway is my road running to the south west. There are 25 households down here so I guess we qualify as a small subdivision.

Most nights we are serenaded by coyotes, owls and an occasional wolf. The neighbouring chicken farm has a couple of lads who herald our wakeup call. There are frequent wanderers moving through the yard. I've seen bear, moose, deer, foxes, and raccoons. Yes, we have seen a wolf and the odd coyote too. We had a wolf sit and watch a worker tune up our AC unit one summer afternoon! He wasn't aggressive, just curious. Once he was satisfied with what he was doing he wandered across the front field and out the lane.

 

It is very peaceful here. It's usually a few degrees cooler than up at the highway where the heat radiates off the pavement.

My home is at the very end of the road, so frequent power and internet outages are a fact of life. We cope. We learned how the hard way.   

Time and Time again

 Once again we are deluged by smoke from northern fires. This is the second summer in the past five years that we have had the issues. In my 70+ years of life I can never remember this before.

I'm staying indoors as much as possible.

I was reading a piece in a Toronto publication about folks going on vacation. It continues to baffle me that having spotty cell service is worth anxiety. I would think folks want to get out of the city and leave that crazy umbilical cord detached. Once upon a time we would take a computer device so we could check in with our home and pet sitter once in awhile. It baffles me when I see the folks wandering around the features, not paying any attention to their surroundings - unless their connection drops, sheesh.

What a headache

 Yes, I was awake about 5AM with a real pounder and one side of my face feeling numb. I usually get two migraines a year, during an extreme cold spell in winter and the opposite in summer. 

I watered my gardens and took a quick run up to give my Pal some paperwork I'd copied for her. Her house was lovely and cool with no AC! It is very hot today but tomorrow looks worse!

It's usually nice and comfortable here early in the morning, then again late afternoon. Not quite today though.

My hanging baskets are doing great. I'm not sure what kind of petunias these are. The flowers are very tiny, maybe the size of a nickle. They don't require deadheading like regular petunias. Tomorrow morning I will give them a touch of fertilizer in their morning drink.

What a Day

The 40th Annual Artisan Market/Fair happened today in the nearby hamlet of Barry's Bay. 

(Unfortunately my computer or blogger is giving me grief about adding photos)

This was my first trip into the wild blue yonder without M., my daughter or my Pal by my side. I'm still figuring out some of the geegaws on Ruby so it will be interesting. Getting the CD player to play before I even left the lane was the biggest head scratcher.

It was quite a nice drive. There was little traffic until I got quite close to B.Bay when it all seemed to be coming to a near halt as I drove down the hill into town. It was a slow crawl to get through the main shopping area. I managed to snag a parking spot right in front of the lovely Madawaska Coffee Shop.  I had to make a pit stop and get caffeinated! 

I parked there and wandered up the other side of the street. Stop one was a run into Afelskies Shoes for a chat with the proprietor Sean. He knows I'm trying to snap a certain pair of Birkenstock SHOES. He hasn't had any luck yet but he pointed to another line he just brought in that are VERY GOOD (and CANADIAN!) knockoffs called Viking.! They are also about half the price. Sean says the footbed in this product is identical to the Birks, which is what I need.  I'm going to head back in a couple of weeks when he has most of his fall stock in to see what is available.

Stop two was a run through Stedmans V&S looking for a sundress. They had a nice selection marked down, so that was a score! We have an extremely hot week coming up and I need something to wear that isn't a muumuu. If you ever watched the TVs program Threes Company and remember Mrs. Roper, she always wore long loose cool dresses called muumuus. I think they originated in Hawaii though.

By that time, I needed to hit the Artisan Market. It was SO CROWDED. There were so many crafts and lovely art on offer.  I didn't buy anything there. I had a quick few words with my pal Teresa, who is the proprietor at the yarn shop in the town. She was at the market cooking up blooming onions. They sure smelled good. Unfortunately I'm allergic to onions so I had to pass. Her hubby Jason tried his best to convince me they were some delicious, but I tried my best to convince him they weren't for me, haha.

Teresa told me there was some delicious hand dyed yarn with my name on it across the street in her shop so off I jogged, dodging the traffic in the crosswalks. Barrys Bay has well marked cross walks with prominent signage. Unfortunately the tourists don't seem to be able to read very well.

I snagged my beautiful scarlet yarn and scurried back to the car. I decided to skip the traffic jam and headed up one of the well known back roads out of town. It was a pretty round about road, but a relaxing drive. I did get a little bit "lost" when I thought I was taking a shortcut. Instead of turning right off the first side road, I managed to miss it and turned on the second, which turned out to be a logging road with a gate at the very end. I had to drive a little further out of the the way then I anticipated. Yes, I got lost wandering around the Wilno Hills! It was no big deal in the end because all roads lead to the highway eventually. I even stopped to take some photos along with way.

When I left town my eyes started bothering me. They were itching and burning and my vision was a bit cloudy. I was getting concerned until the radio announced we are getting smoke from Quebec wildfires northeast of us.  Well that was a relief, of sorts.

Refreshing

 We had a couple of hot hot days, but it broke overnight. This morning we are getting a lovely rain.

The deer flies are horrible. We don't seem to have as many dragonflies to take them out. Where are you dragonflies?

My Pal and I are hitting the town today to get her business taken care of. This is her first trip in Ruby. She is excited about that.

The heat is back

 Our temperature was over 30C again today.

We had to make a trip west past Deep River this afternoon. There is a lot of highway paving happening. We were quite uncomfortable sitting there waiting for our turn to proceed through the construction zone. I can't imagine how brutal it is for the workers. M pointed out that the guy sitting up at the controls of the hot mix machine would really be in the hotspot. He had a big umbrella but there was steaming asphalt below him. The fumes alone would be horrible!